Ruth Run

Kaufman debuts with an irresistible cat-and-mouse thriller about a cybercriminal and her stalker. Ruth, 26, has created a microchip that allows her to skim money from banks, but when her theft is detected by a government organization known only as the Agency, she’s forced to leave her quaint San Francisco apartment and go on the run. In a parallel narrative from the perspective of Mike, the agent who flagged Ruth’s illicit activity, the reader learns the pair met several years earlier as colleagues at a tech company. Mike’s been stalking her ever since, fantasizing about their life together even as he pursues her on behalf of the government. Out on the road, Ruth meets an eccentric cast of characters, including a truck driver who’s running bombs for a domestic terror organization and an honest bachelor on a religious homestead. Kaufman’s plucky heroine and slimy villain are both perfectly drawn, and the pedal-to-the-medal pacing never lets up. This is impossible to put down. Agent: Nicol Aragi, Aragi Inc. (Apr.)